


Readying to Part Ways

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: To Make a World of Their Own [2]
Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Colonization, Multi, Past Relationships, and casual ones, flagrant abuse of mando'a, like plo/micah, like plo/ofc, not tagging all the characters, tags are for all the fic, will remember to update pairings if more arise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-22 04:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15574071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: The men are making their plans, and it spills over to their Jedi.





	1. So It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Unrepentant fluff with a smattering of angst from cultural issues, but the fluff will win! Also, there will be generational influences (aka kid-fic) in the mix!

There was something running through the men. Nearly two years of chasing and catching Dooku, escorting negotiators, and trying to rebuild war-torn worlds had left a mark, certainly, but Anakin was getting the impression things were changing. He knew the Senate was no closer to acknowledging the wrongs done to the men by their inception and usage. He also knew that the Jedi Order was not making ground in linking better treatment for the men to their own continued service to the Senate.

Padmé's section of that body was of the mind that the Senate needed to pull back, see a bigger picture, and stop using the Jedi Order as its own security and diplomacy corps, but she was livid at the treatment of the Vod'e An.

Anakin was curious just what was afoot with his men, even as the tiny dragons slowly spread through the men. It seemed the greens matured slightly faster than the golds, as his own darling had yet to mate, but some of her sisters had. A gold had hatched from the eggs left with the 212th, which would further diversify the dragons, but so far, all the new hatchlings were from the greens the 501st had brought back.

Reina wasn't worried about whatever it was, which was some comfort... but knowing that there was something going on in not just his boys, but every unit they interacted with had Anakin still worrying. _He_ was so far past fed up with the Senate that it took everything he had not to just get on-camera with some of the reporters and use his kriffing fame to push them -- but Padmé was sure it wouldn't help enough, and might make the Order more enemies they didn't need. 

He sort of thought that if it would make them enemies, they didn't need those people in the first place... but this was why he wasn't a Consular. He just wished he could somehow... take all of them somewhere else, somewhere safe, and let the Republic figure its poodoo out _without_ them. Or not figure it out. Now that there weren't legions of battle droids on the attack, he just wanted to take them somewhere _safe_. 

Reina chirred at him lovingly, pressing her head against his cheek for a moment. ~Worry much. Not time.~ She then sat up and gave a greeting cheep, moments before Ahsoka and her pair turned a corner at a fast pace.

"Hi, Master!" she said cheerfully, carrying a large crate, intending to move by him from all evidence.

"Hey Snips," Anakin answered, his fingers running over Reina's hide gently, moving to the side so she could get by. He turned his head to look at his queen, breathing in, and out. ~Of course I worry,~ he answered her. ~I have to protect the _aliit_ , and I... don't know how.~ 

Catch and Chase both cheeped at the pair in passing, but Ahsoka was on a mission with her crate, and they were doing their best to hold onto the shoulder perches she had made to discourage sudden grabs of her lekku for balance.

~Fair is guarding its own. All in time.~ Reina pressed her head to his fingers then, seeking scritching for her eye ridges.

He scritched as she demanded, smiling at her, but... ~What, Reina? What do you mean, the fair is guarding its own?~ 

She merely trilled, saying no more on the matter, intent on thrumming with pleasure at his scritches. Her inner eyelids closed, and she leaned ever more into the touches, jeopardizing her balance if he moved his hand too quickly.

~Reina...~ he pleaded, supporting her a little bit with the Force while he kept scritching exactly where she wanted it, leaning his other shoulder back against the wall behind him. She closed her outer lids then too; this was not something she would discuss apparently.

Rex came out of the same corridor, also carrying a crate, but with his blue absent. "Sir," he said politely. "Reina," he added in a soft voice upon seeing her as well.

"Hey Rex," Anakin replied, and eyed the crate. "Dare I ask what you two are up to?" 

"Just moving a few things, sir," Rex said with an even voice… and a shade too quickly, maybe? It sounded -- no -- felt a little off.

"Uh _huh_ ," Anakin answered, his eyes narrowing at the vaguely off answer when his queen was keeping secrets from him about their fair and now Rex was avoiding? "Well, Snips looked like she was in a hurry, go on." 

Cornering his padawan suddenly climbed to being a priority, but he wasn't going to act like he had his head up his _shebs_. At least not right now. 

"Yes, sir. Thank you." Rex kept moving, managing his crate nearly as credibly as Ahsoka had been handling hers, but she had a higher gravity background in her species than he did for muscles.

Reina, for her part, was all but asleep on his shoulder and pooled into his hand and the Force-grip.

Anakin shifted her off of his shoulder into the cradle of his arm with careful use of the Force, and headed for the _Twilight_ rather than wherever those two were going with whatever.


	2. The Wolfpack

Wolffe pressed his forehead to Sinker's. He'd been more and more affectionate with his brothers in the last few weeks, and just hoped it hadn't triggered any protective urges from his _jetii_ in doing so.

The Pack had argued with him, but he was standing firm. For this, for what they were all planning, he'd make peace with Fox himself and be just fine. The Pack… they needed to be among the fullness of their brothers that would be safe.

"Timeline's getting a bit crunched, what with new proposals to tie our lives to service in order to merit the basics of existence," Wolffe said softly. "Keep moving on the plan, get it sped up as much as possible, and don't forget to check with Fives on that one issue."

" _Elek, vod_ ," Sinker agreed, before pushing away and going to do that, leaving Wolffe to go back to duty to maintain pretenses. He was exercising every single method of guarding Jedi from strong emotions and thoughts to cloak his purposes, running interference, but soon it would not matter. Soon, his brothers, most of them, would be safe.

Plo Koon, on his bridge, was becoming more and more unsettled at the depth to which Wolffe was attempting to keep him shielded from what every one of his _ad'e_ were thinking about (sometimes loudly, sometimes only barely, and sometimes the intensity with which they were trying to hide it made it a silent scream at him instead) and the every-so-often 'won't go' from his Commander, his First Son were not helpful to his unease. 

He had been cheerfully ignoring what was, strictly speaking, a plot of mass desertion, if not treason for the simple reason that his sons had never been asked to serve. They had been indoctrinated, manipulated and forced to wish to, and all that Plo was found that offensive. The threat to the Republic was gone, and if his sons wished to go before they could suffer any more harm... he would support it as best he could. So far, that was through silence and a blind eye.

But this thought of Wolffe's, of remaining apart from the brothers he loved... this he could not stand.

He waited until his Commander returned to the bridge, and asked quietly, when Wolffe was at his shoulder, "Join me in my wardroom, _ad_?" 

"Yes, sir," Wolffe said smartly enough, moving quickly toward the wardroom. He eyed the other officer, a very fresh lieutenant sharply once, making the man stiffen and more alertly scan the bridge for issues, in passing. 

No one wanted to make Wolffe's life harder on him. That, more than rumors of his temper, kept the 104th and 127th sharp as ever.

Plo moved in and settled down in his seat, motioning for Wolffe to sit next to him. He repeated the gesture at Wolffe's momentary hesitation, then reached for his son's gloved hand with his own, turning to fully face him. "Wolffe," he began softly, "why is it that you keep thinking that you will not go with your brothers?" 

Wolffe did everything he could to clamp down on the surprise, pulling hard against all of his training. "Sir, I am not certain what you are referring to. I have a lot of work I am behind on, if you are referring to upcoming leave." It was not a lie, either part of it. It was a work around, because he could not lie to his _jetii_. He did not resist the touch on his hand, turning his palm up.

Plo sighed, soft, and looked steadily at his son from behind his goggles, well aware Wolffe could feel his regard despite their opacity. Wolffe pulling away from him ached, but he understood it. "Some of your brothers think very loudly when they are attempting to shield themselves, Wolffe. What is being planned is good... but I do not understand this thought that you will remain. You, too, deserve peace..." 

Wolffe glared for half a second at his General, before he shook his head. "None of you are meant to know, sir. We wish to protect you from our actions, to keep you from being held accountable for our treason.

"As to the rest, _buir_? How can you suggest that sending me away from your side would give me any peace?" he asked in a soft, hurting voice, as Plo felt the slimmest crack in the shields, and heard that pain of rejection trying to cut through the undying loyalty.

"Oh, my son..." Plo murmured, and pushed his chair closer while he tugged at his Commander, his son, "shh, shh, no, _ad_. I would never send you from me. But I would go with you -- if it would be allowed?" 

Wolffe's good eye blew wide open at the idea of that, before he sharply reined it in and faced practical matters. "Sir, where they plan to go, they will not be followed. Because it will not be feasible or profitable to follow a bunch of runaway slaves all the way into Wild Space."

Plo had heard that word in thoughts and conversation more and more ever since Dooku was captured, breaking the clear directive for their purpose for the Republic.

"We wouldn't be able to renew your air canisters, or supply your actual foods, or any of your biological needs," Wolffe continued. "I cannot, will not ask that of you, not when … your lifespan, sir, compared to a human's? Means that in peace, you will likely outlive me."

Plo clucked at him, shaking his head slightly. "The Kel Dor have colonized worlds before, _ner'ad_. I know what plants and creatures are necessary to create a stable, life-sustaining environment for my needs. They would not be so difficult to attain, even. It would require a sealed space, yes, but that is not so difficult a thing to accomplish." 

At least his people had not gotten to large-scale construction yet on the refuge he'd planned... though they would shelter those who could not escape with them until it was possible to retrieve them. "As to that last... I have outlived one clan. I have no intention of outliving a second by long." 

Wolffe all but choked in his protest that was non-articulate, as well as the move to catch and hold his general. "Sir!" He had no words or ability to process the concept of Plo dying. He could not get across the fact that children and grandchildren would be there, needing him. It poured out of the now-open mind link between them, though, as Wolffe held close to the man that had, sometimes at great cost to himself, kept taking chances to save Wolffe's life, and the lives of all the men Wolffe called brother.

"Shh," Plo murmured soothingly, pressing into Wolffe's strong, desperate embrace, wrapping his arms around his son as much as he pressed into that open mind-link, soothing him as much as he could -- though that flood of images of young of their clan, human and Kel Dor alike, was almost enough to convince him that there might be reason to out-live another clan he had bonded to so tightly. ~Shh... shh, _ner'ad_ , shh... I did not intend to distress you so. Shh, my dear son, it is all right. I am here.~ 

Wolffe forced his calm to come back, working his emotions back under control. He then looked up at his _jetii_. "It will be treason, sir, for you to abdicate your duty to the Order and the Republic. We were never asked, never chose. But a Jedi? It is different, no matter that you have had so little choice in the war, or how you do what the Senate bids."

Plo made another soft, disagreeing noise, and freed one hand to card the tips of his talons through Wolffe's thick black hair. "One... any Jedi may leave the Order, my son. It has not often been done, but it can be. And the Senate betrayed us years ago by rescinding the laws that kept us from being forced into the position we have had to take through this war. There were too many innocents in danger, including all of you, to defy them then. But they are safe, now... and they refuse to clean their house, or act honorably to those they owe everything to. 

"I had hoped that it would be otherwise. That the Senate would do better, and there was a chance to change the Order in the ways it has long needed. But they will not, and so the Order can not. I would feel no shame in leaving the Republic to itself, when it is this far lost." 

Wolffe blinked, face scrunching up for a long moment, before he looked at Plo very seriously. "Permission to discuss this with Bly, sir?" he asked, worried for that brother before all others. Cody hadn't said, one way or another, but Bly was very torn because he had the highest number of younger troopers and could not, in good conscience, leave them to the vagaries of a difficult planet without veteran guidance.

"Of course, Wolffe," Plo answered, as he felt his heart break a little for the impossible choice Bly must have thought he was looking towards. "...I think you will find, Wolffe, that most of those you have come to call _jetii_ would rather leave the Republic to itself, than live without the _vod'e_ we have come to love."

Wolffe really wished his lungs and sinuses would stop closing off like they had twice now. He tipped his head back to clear the irritating moisture back from his eye, and wrestled with that concept. 

"I'll need a list, sir, and your requisition authority," he finally said. "To gather your supplies. We are running very short on time, from all Thire said Fox has learned."

Plo nodded, and leaned to press his forehead against his son's. Seeing his fierce, stubborn, loyal Wolffe moved to tears made his chest ache, and he wished he could do more to soothe it than he had. "Some of it, I will send to Sha for. We have a stable environment within the Temple -- simpler than constantly transporting canisters. Cuttings and seeds and spore packets can be harvested from there. Others will have to be found elsewhere. It will not take me long to finalize the list."

"We'll get it all, sir, one way or another," Wolffe vowed. He started to pull back, so he could get to duty and start sending coded messages. He paused though, and managed a small smile. "Sir, you just saved me a pain in the _shebs_. I was willing to make nice with Fox, but I wasn't going to like it!" 

It was Wolffe, offering him humor, to make the pain of the conversation a little less.

Plo chuckled, quiet and more than willing to let Wolffe make a joke about the entire mess. "No, I could not think that you would, my son. I learned _that_ about you most swiftly!"


	3. Telling Anakin

The frantic flurry of comms between commanders and captains, following Plo Koon's words to Wolffe did not escape the attention of the various Jedi that were growing more and more concerned for their men's safety and well-being.

Anakin saw Rex take a comm, come back from the hush booth, and then pointedly look at Ahsoka until his padawan broke away from training on astrogation. She got up and walked toward Rex as the captain was making his way to the door. If Anakin didn't know better, it could all be fairly innocent, but something had been afoot for weeks, with the encounter in the corridor just reinforcing that the day before.

~Reina?~ he asked the queen sitting on his shoulder, ~is Rex all right?~ 

Reina took a moment to speak silently to the blue on Rex's shoulder, then made a puzzled noise. ~Changes. Something from the Growly One.~

~Wolffe?~ Anakin almost asked that aloud, but kept it mental after a second. No surprise that Wolffe would be bouncing comms to Rex, but Reina sounded... like it was important, and that matched the set of Ahsoka's lekku, too. ~Changes, huh?~ 

In whatever it was they were planning? 

~Know more later.~ She pushed her head against his cheek to show that she loved him, flavoring all of her thoughts with that unending loyalty to him.

* * *

Rex explained the comm to Ahsoka, then arched an eyebrow. "What do we do now, Commander?"

She chewed on her lip, because this was a lot more complicated for them than for Bly or the others that were outright sleeping with their Jedi. She didn't envy Cody right now, who had refused to tell anyone which way he was leaning, even as he threw everything into helping his brothers escape. 

"I don't know. Maybe… we tell him. It's going to hurt him that we're leaving, but… he's got to understand that we weren't hiding it to be mean. He's got the Senator and that? That's why he would never be able to go with us.

"But we just can't stay, Rex. My place is with our brothers, and with you." 

He nodded. They… well, it was the longest courtship in the history of the Vod'e An, but worth waiting for, worth building up before either one took the last step. He just didn't like how much it was tearing at him, at Fives, at so many others to leave their other _jetii_ in the callous, cruel Republic.

"After shift?" Rex asked.

"Yes." Ahsoka squeezed his hand, leaning in so Chase and Catch could twine necks with Rex's blue. "I'll go take my nap and you bring him back to quarters after shift."

"As you wish, sir," Rex said, settling to keep it to himself for the next couple of hours.

* * *

Rex had come back on bridge without Ahsoka, and Anakin itched to say something then, but Rex had immediately gone to work with the very young tactical officer, polishing his skills. He let it go, and busied himself in his own work until his wrist comm beeped a few minutes before end of shift with a text message.

[Can I speak to you, sir, in your quarters, after shift?]

The originating code was Rex, and there was no priority assigned to it to make it seem too important.

Anakin turned to look at Rex, flicking his attention at Rex's blue when he saw Rex's back was to him, and when Rex turned too, he turned his wrist and nodded. He didn't normally head straight back to his quarters after shift, but if Rex was actually going to tell him what the kriffing _haran_ was going on, he'd be there immediately. 

The next few minutes until the shift-change chime dragged like every second was an hour, and Anakin had to make himself reinforce his shields when the _vod'e_ closest started shifting their weight in response to his state. He turned the bridge over and left as swiftly as he could without worrying anyone. 

Rex finished his own last few words with their newest tactical officer, then made his way out, catching up at the lift. "Join you, sir?" he asked with just a hint of amusement. His blue cheeped at Reina twice, got an answer, then settled with his head under Rex's chin.

"Any time," Anakin replied, dry and trying not to be impatient -- but that was far from his best trait, and whatever was going on with the _vod'e_ was not helping at all. 

The lift moved swiftly, as ever, and he walked out and for his quarters, opening the door with the Force from a few steps away. 

Ahsoka looked up as the door opened, having taken her nap on the couch, and uncurled. Anakin walked in just as she was stretching and yawning, both little dragons arching and yawning in unison with her. 

"Hey, Skyguy. Rexter." She shifted to take one end of the couch, leaving plenty of space for the pair of them, even as all four dragons launched to the cushy chair, piling up in a mess of necks, tails, and wings in the seat of it.

"'Soka," Rex greeted, moving to take the other end so Anakin had the full middle.

"Snips," Anakin answered, wondering what had made her go nap -- but then, that was why he was here now, he hoped, to find out what the kriff was going on. "They're ridiculous," he said with a glance at the pile of wings and bodies cuddling around each other, and dropped himself between them. 

"All right," he said, "out with it, whatever the _haran_ is going on." 

Whups. 

Rex just chuckled, then sighed. "We didn't mean to upset you so, sir. We've been trying to handle things as discreetly as possible. But Commander Wolffe has said General Koon is now aware, and we should tell our _jetiise_."

Ahsoka reached over and took Anakin's hand. "Only, it's very hard, Skyguy, to talk to you about this, because… it's not going to change anything, not really." She looked into his face, and he could see a deep sadness in her eyes, alongside a strong resolve. "We… the Vod'e… are leaving. We can't stay, can't remain slaves to a corrupt power that should have learned its lessons but didn't."

"Ahsoka was the only one who was supposed to know, sir, because her visions tied her to us as a child," Rex said. "And we could not encourage treason among the Jedi."

Okay, so whatever had been going on, even Master Plo hadn't known, that was a little better. Then Ahsoka touched him and drew his eyes to her from Rex, and the quiet, sad resolve on her face made him hurt as much as the 'it's not going to change anything, not really' set every nerve he had on edge. 

And there was the explanation, a couple dozen words that were everything he wanted for the _vod'e_ , everything he'd wanted a hundred times to do -- and the wrenching, gut-twisting agony that they hadn't trusted him, hadn't known he would want to help to follow to be part of this swamped him so completely that he almost missed all of Rex's words from it. Had they thought of him as -- 

Reina slammed into his chest, knocking him back against the couch, her whistle sharp negation though her presence wrapped around him warm and soft and utterly, completely loving.

"Master," Ahsoka said very softly, as she pinned his shoulder, tucking in along his side. "What you didn't know couldn't leak out around Master Kenobi, or someone else who would have told us we were overreacting," she told him, snuggling into his hold as her pair and Rex's blue followed Reina to blanket him with bodies and love.

"Sir, we only ever wanted to protect you from our choice, and not let it spill out into a battle between the Order, the Senate, and us. Last thing we could afford was for them to remove all of you from us, and make it near impossible for us to escape the Senate!" Rex said. "We trust our _jetiise_ , but we know the Force makes it hard to hide things.

"We're all freaking out a bit at General Koon volunteering to go with us, that he thinks others will too… but you have something so few of them do, sir. You have a love outside the army, outside the other _jetiise_ , and that makes this just as hard as keeping the secret from you in the first place."

Anakin wrapped the Force around the pile of firelizards on his chest, his hand clinging to his padawan and the other reaching for Rex as Reina deliberately made him feel their love and worry. Made him feel that there was no fear of him or his reaction, that they _hadn't_ thought he would turn traitor to them (the Huttese word for a slave that informed on others flickered through the back of his mind and for a breath he flushed with shame), that they'd only been trying to keep him from the fallout, and he started to be able to breathe normally again. 

"Both of you, shut up for a minute," he told them, trying to drag himself back under control. He closed his eyes, going for the most basic of the calming exercises, until he could make the combination of adrenaline and the rest of the chemical cocktail his whipsawing emotions had dumped into his blood subside. 

Ahsoka did, but started humming in a tone and pitch similar to the dragons, adding that to their calming hum. Rex just shifted to where his general could more easily keep touch on him, looking across him at his partner in all of this.

Ahsoka gave a tiny little hitch of her shoulder at Rex, then subsided, focused on calming Anakin. She almost hated they'd chosen to spoke up; they would have been gone, and their absence would have pushed Anakin further into Padmé or Obi-Wan for support, she thought.

Or maybe not. Maybe… even with the letters they had meant to leave… it would have hurt him too much. But Ahsoka knew, no matter what, they had to part ways. His life was here, with his dangerous and smart Senator, not on that world where all of the men and the various other slaves of the Republic hoped to be free.

Anakin leaned a little against his padawan as he finished the first round of the exercise, calming just the way it was designed to help. Okay, okay... he was all right, and Rex and Ahsoka had only been trying to protect him. They knew the way the Force sometimes acted, and that was a fair worry... but they hadn't thought he'd do anything against them. 

That was the important part. He opened his eyes, looking from his padawan to his Captain, and sighed. "You two have no idea how many times in the last few months I've wanted to do exactly what you're planning. I just... haven't known how. And as for Padmé... she's about at the limit of how much she can fight. 

"The last letter Kwilaan brought," he broke off, and shook his head. "She doesn't want to stand for election again. She's done everything she can, and none of it has been enough. It's just getting worse, even with _him_ gone." 

Ahsoka sat up and looked at Rex, whose eyes widened. "Do you… Skyguy, would she ever consider coming with us? And inviting Rabé? Because her boys are so in love with her, but… well, _vod'e_ need _vod'e_.

"I've been signing orders left and right to get all those who are staying admitted to the Home Guard, because none of the laws affect the Guard," Ahsoka told him. "And Mint and Vasq considered it, but they don't have many contacts among the Guard, so they just resigned themselves.

"After all, they knew Bly and others were making harder choices."

Anakin tipped his head to the side slightly, considering what his angel might say. "Well... where are we going?" he asked, and Reina chirred delightedly ~hooooome~ before either of them could even answer. "Never mind, now I know, stupid question wasn't it?

"I... I think she would?" he offered cautiously, just as Kwilaan -- outfitted in the small rebreather tank they'd discovered was needed for interstellar jumps -- landed on his knees and glared ferociously at Chase and Catch before he held out a small spool of plasfilm. 

The brown and bronze chirruped at him innocently before launching back to the chair, curling up there. Rex's blue joined them, twining necks with each before curling into a sleeping lump. 

"Seems irritated with yours," Rex told Ahsoka. 

"Maybe because he's certain they're trying to influence Reina before flight," Ahsoka said with nonchalance as Anakin took the spool. "What's it say, Skyguy?"

Anakin unrolled the plas, and blinked several times. "She wants to know what's wrong -- Reina, did you relay to her?" 

Reina snorted at him and turned her head away, her wings flexing a little, and Anakin shook his head. "And she's threatening the Kaminoan senator's life. 'Ani, I don't know what else to do.' is the end of it." 

"I think you need to send a letter back to her," Rex said. "Explain our gambit. We're leaving before the vote in nine days, sir. There's a reason the _Negotiator_ and _Resolute_ are going to Kamino in eight days' time. We mean to maroon the Fleet there, take our brothers, and jump. We've been transferring supplies for weeks to other units, when we cross paths," he admitted.

"Some ships are carrying more things," Ahsoka said. "Others… have a lot of abused persons from systems that allow slavery under other names hiding in Army territory. So yeah, tell her everything by letter, and if she wants to go… Kamino can be her rendezvous point with us."

Anakin almost melted at the idea that they were taking others, probably mostly Twi'leki and Zeltron, maybe some humans, along with them, getting them free along with themselves, and he nodded twice. "I... yeah. That works for me. 

"...what _exactly_ were you planning on doing to get me out of the way?" he asked, morbidly curious. 

"We were planning on her distracting you while a couple of us stunned you, sir," Rex answered honestly, dropping his eyes at the hurt look Anakin turned on him. 

"Well," Anakin had to admit, "it probably would have worked. I'd've **followed** you pack of lunatics, mind, but it probably would've worked." 

Ahsoka nor Rex were quite certain what had tripped such a deeply emotional response. Ahsoka was not coping well but buried it to try and fix things.

"We were going to leave letters explaining where and why," Ahsoka told him. "Complete with why I have to go with them. I couldn't protect them when I first Saw them, but I can help them adapt to life there."

"Neither of us liked leaving you in the dark, but it was a mass vote, by all officers, to protect you all," Rex said. "We didn't understand, apparently, based on General Koon's words."

Anakin frowned, looking at his padawan. Yes, okay, Rex had just said Ahsoka was the exception because of visions she'd had as a child, visions he'd never known about, and he wanted to find out more about that. But for Rex to say she was tied to them... well. Time later to figure that out. 

Now that they weren't going to leave him behind. His Force-grip shifted from the dragons on his chest to his padawan and his Captain, holding on close. He shifted his gaze to Rex, considering that 'mass vote' and 'protect you all', and what they'd said earlier... and it made some more of his tension leave him . That was their _vod'e_ , all right, determined to protect them no matter the cost to themselves. 

"So what _did_ Master Plo say?" he asked. He didn't know how they could provide for Master Plo on an oxygen world, not long-term, but there had to be a way, because Master Plo would never hurt Wolffe by doing something that amounted to suicide. 

"That the Senate had betrayed the Jedi, as well, by rescinding the anti-military laws protecting them from having to do as you all have done," Rex said. "That he doesn't see it improving, and that those we name as _jetiise_ would likely all choose our path," he told his general.

"That changed everything for a lot of _vod'e_ who were making very hard choices," Ahsoka said quietly. "But with you and Padmé? We just thought it meant we'd get to say goodbye."

Anakin nodded, slowly, because yeah, that was true. The Jedi had never been supposed to be military leaders, that'd been the law for millennia. The Senate had changed that, when the Separatists attacked. "He's probably right," Anakin agreed, thinking about the particular distinction between 'Jedi' and ' _jetiise_ ' the boys used, and the people on the two sides of that line. 

Of course they'd thought he would stay with Padmé no matter what. He couldn't imagine leaving her, and before the last few months, he couldn't have imagined her leaving the Republic. She was too devoted to it. But the Senate had been breaking her faith, and these last weeks... 

"I think she'll come," he said, aware he was repeating himself, but... Sometimes it had to be said more than once to feel real. "Okay. So how do I help -- and how much trouble are you two and Cody anticipating on Kamino?" 

Rex snorted. "Cody said we could just run a ship-wide lifepod drill," he said. "Friendly system, far from any recent attacks," he continued. "So it's a good environment, and the Fleet won't suspect. That the pods will be rigged to remain stationary for four hours, and incommunicado is the precaution there. With a message for them, explaining that."

"As for Kamino itself, none," Ahsoka said smugly. "Since we found and disabled those kriffing chips, the longnecks have no true way to turn the boys away. The eldest have been prepped to lock the longnecks away for their own safety. The next years will be guiding the loading. Food vats, babies and on up… none are left in jars, and Hardcase is going to coordinate destroying the genetic material."

" _Hardcase_ is?" Anakin asked, not sure if he was appalled or delighted. "At least we know it'll be thorough? That all sounds good." 

The thought of all of the babies was more than a little terrifying, and he had a feeling he was going to be spending some time in Environmental, making sure the ship could take the strain of that many more bodies -- but it was so worth it. 

And he was just carefully not thinking about those chips. He couldn't think about that, or all the work they'd done over the last two years started to vanish in a red haze of fury. So he shoved that away, and focused on his padawan and Captain, on the smug satisfaction in Ahsoka's eyes and Rex's quiet determination instead. 

"We didn't want them to ever build another army of us. Boba hates us enough that he'll never let them catch his genetics," Rex said, before shaking his head. "It's good, sir, to have you at our backs for this."

"So why don't you write that letter to Padmé, so she quits worrying?" Ahsoka said, as Taroth popped in to check on Kwilaan.

"Always, Rex," Anakin told him, settling a little more because all he felt from Rex was a satisfied relief and hope. "And yeah, Snips, I guess I'd better." 

He pulled plasflim and a pen and a datapad to use for a desk, and Reina crawled down onto his knees with Kwilaan so he could put what she needed to know into words.


	4. Cody and the General

Obi-Wan had been in the midst of intense negotiations on behalf of a Separatist world, a position that Cody still found intriguing. The Jedi were giving their skills to the returning systems impartially, often with one Jedi on either side, to help insure the process was fair.

Unfortunately, the Senate was weighting things heavily toward punitive reparations, making the Jedi path even harder. It was one reason Obi-Wan was in such demand from the Separatist systems. He had a gift with words that made the Senate back down, somewhat, from their goals of bleeding the various worlds of their former enemies dry.

Cody knew something had happened, even as he ignored the communications on his wrist-comm, when his General's concentration broke toward the end of negotiations. However, Obi-Wan recovered smoothly, and brought things to an end in an equitable manner shortly after. He came back to Cody, indicating silently that they should adjourn to the ship.

As Obi-Wan piloted them back up to the _Negotiator_ , Cody was finally able to check his messages, and was thankful Obi-Wan seemed to be chasing something in his own head, to be able to digest the message.

Or… maybe his General wasn't as distracted as he hoped.

"Cody?"

Kriffing _haran_ , what did he _do_ now? 

He'd been planning, steadily and intently, everything that had to be done to see his brothers free. He'd known it would be bad, after, but he'd given his word to Obi-Wan (the man, not the General, the High Council member) that he wasn't going to leave him, and he meant to hold to that. Sending his brothers to freedom was what he had to do, for their sakes, and losing them (Rex, worst of all) he'd known would hurt, but -- 

\-- now what? 

He reread Wolffe's words, his heart thudding hard in his chest. The other Jedi had taken to hir own ship, thank storms, so it was just the two of them. "...message from Wolffe, sir. It's -- " 

Obi-Wan looked over, curious, then reached a hand out. "I know nothing's happened to Master Plo. Is it one of his batch-brothers?" he asked in a gentle, caring voice. 

Cody reached for him, his fingers latching around his _jetii_ 's armored wrist, taking a single deep breath. "Only in a way, sir." He paused, then relaxed his shoulders and jaw and let his tone shift. "...Obi-Wan, _ner'cyare_ , I need to talk to you." 

Obi-Wan gave him an adoring look, his face softening from his own worries. "I feel I should check in with Anakin. Something upset him strongly while we were in the meeting. But after? Our quarters?"

Cody frowned -- upset wasn't what he would have expected from Skywalker, but then, two-thirds of the time he couldn't predict how Skywalker was going to jump. "Pretty sure it's the same thing, _cyare_. And I'd -- I'd rather you heard it from me, n --" He bit the tip of his tongue, rather than finish that sentence. 

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "We will talk first. I know Anakin has his padawan and captain, after all, to lean on. You and I have each other." He turned his attention back to piloting, not pushing that aborted comment, so he could get them docked and on their way to quarters.

Cody relaxed, settling from the instant wariness of the havoc Skywalker could create in his General, and stayed quiet beside him through getting back onto the ship and to his -- their -- quarters. Nominally his General's, but. He was there more than anywhere else. 

He racked bucket and gloves and belt as soon as they stepped in, and broke the main seals on his upper armor. He needed to actually feel his lover, not just the weight-against-armor half-sensation. 

That set the tone, and Obi-Wan removed the collar and pectoral armor he wore, placing it in its cradle, adding the gloves and then shedding his robe. Boots followed, belts and tabard… all of it was shed down to the leggings and innermost tunic, before Obi-Wan headed to their bed, settling at the headboard, sitting upright.

"Come talk to me, _cyare_ ," he encouraged once Cody was stripped as far as he was comfortable with.

Cody came to his side wrapped in his blacks, knees almost against the headboard as he sat on his heels, his near hand reaching for his _jetii_. "I know you've realized we've been up to something," he said, getting straight to the point. His _jetii_ didn't miss things, even though Cody'd been running as much of it through their captains as he could. They were the ones that were going to have to lead, after, so that was only wise. 

He'd thought they were the ones that were going to have to lead. Unless his _jetii_ chose the Republic, and then Cody would still stay. "None of us had spoken to our _jetiise_ , but... apparently General Koon knew more than we thought. He braced Wolffe over it, and -- " 

Obi-Wan stroked his fingers along Cody's hand, where they had joined. "It is very hard to keep things from a telepath, especially one so invested in the welfare of all of you." He kept his voice light, easy on those word, and continued to caress Cody's hand. "I have not wanted to press, trying to grant as much freedom of movement and choice as possible."

"I know," Cody replied, and smiled at his lover, his partner. "And we're all grateful. We couldn't have gotten as far as we have in all of this if you and the rest of the _jetiise_ weren't so careful about that. But you know what's coming from the Senate... and we're done, _cyare_. I was going to stay with you. Wolffe with General Koon. Some of the others. Know that, all right? 

"But before they can make us even more slaves, we're sending our brothers free. Out where it would take far more than it's worth to bring them back." 

Obi-Wan's body went stiff. His men, away from him? Cody? Exiled from his own brothers? Possibly not Rex… no, Rex would go, if Cody were staying, just because of their duty to their brothers.

Cody had chosen him? Cody would give up that much of himself just to stay?

"I-- _CODY!_ " Obi-Wan reached for his lover to pull him into his arms, needing more contact. "I could never, ever ask you to cut yourself off from them! And -- why leave us out of this? We want you safe and free too. No, wait… Mandalorian culture biting us all in the _shebs_?"

Cody folded against his partner, relaxing at that exclamation of his name, pressing his head against Obi-Wan's throat, arms wrapping around him in return. "We couldn't make you complicit in treason, _cyare_. You took vows. You're Jedi, even if you're _jetii_. 

"And I know you wouldn't ask. If you were the kind of person that would, I wouldn't love you enough to stay." 

Obi-Wan felt his throat tighten in response to that, before he just breathed Cody's scent in, let himself fall into that love and loyalty all over again. "You're not staying." He brought a hand up to pet his lover's hair. "Nor… am I. Not if I can get Anakin to accept the idea, and see if he will follow with his lady, once she eventually retires."

Cody shuddered a little in Obi-Wan's arms, breathing him in, grounding himself in the beat of his heart and the stroke of his hand in his hair. He could barely believe what he'd heard, because he knew how bound to duty his general was, but -- 

"...I wasn't really looking forward to getting used to Fox," he admitted, his shoulders relaxing as he rearranged his body a little, tucking closer to Obi-Wan. "But I'm still not leaving without you. You... will go?" 

"I will. Or, at least, I plan to," Obi-Wan corrected. "I cannot abandon Anakin. We've faced too much. But I think Padmé intends to retire young enough to raise a family. If we must, we delay our journey and go together. I do not think she will mind retiring away from notoriety, after all."

He did not deserve Cody. None of them deserved the men, not in the least. And yet, they had forged bonds tighter than anything Obi-Wan had ever known, even with his own master, because this was felt on all sides.

Cody nodded understanding of that -- he had had a few sharp words with brothers that didn't want to leave him because of what they'd been through -- and shifted his head enough to press a kiss to his lover's jaw. "All right, then. The trip to Kamino? We mean to maroon the Fleet personnel there, and take all of our _vod'ike_ aboard. The eldest CCs are to lock down the longnecks, while the next-oldest and their batches see to loading the youngest with us." 

Obi-Wan nodded at that. "Sounds feasible, unless we discover they have not stopped crafting more of you. Then, it might get difficult, as we don't dare leave new lives behind to be exploited. But surely we can figure out how to rig a bay into an incubator chamber," he added, as his pessimistic thought made Cody's skin crawl, and he knew it. "Surely your brothers would have found such by now, and warned you, though."

"They would have," Cody agreed, taking a long breath. "We know a lot more than the longnecks think we do. That started early and we taught it to the younger ones. Hardcase won the right to destroy what's left of the Fett." 

"Hmm. Well, it will be thorough, then." Obi-Wan shifted a little, kissing Cody's brow. "I think I can successfully argue that, since we are only doing a training run and picking up, nominally, the eldest men for replacements, that maybe the Fleet should take leave en route? Save us the necessity of a life-pod drill."

"That would help," Cody agreed. "Be a lot easier, and keep the pods for housing brothers. Wolffe... Wolffe said his General said the Senate betrayed you first and that you can choose to leave. Truth, sir?" 

Obi-Wan tipped his head to one side, then slowly nodded. "That would be an adequate way to put it. Or, to be precisely honest, the Order lost its way some generations ago, and has willfully allowed the Senate to manipulate it steadily into being what it was never meant to be."

Cody nodded thoughtfully, his hand stroking along his lover's shoulder. "I wasn't sure," he said, soft. "If you'd decide you had to stay to fix it. But I'm glad you won't. That we'll go, even if it's later, because of the Senator.

"She's a good one. Did you see the speech where she swore on-mic at what they're trying?" 

Obi-Wan chuckled. "Adi made certain that I did," he said, settling in to find out all the ways he could help this movement towards freedom.


	5. The Spouses

Aayla carefully disengaged from the reconstruction project the entire legion was working on, releasing the massive girders into their new locations, and headed with a long, carrying stride back towards their camp (it was good to have the tents be a work site, not a siege position) at the best pace she could. Bly had gone to take a comm in private -- and no sooner had he gotten to their tent (by her best judgment, at least), than she had felt him whipsaw through shock and bewilderment and grief and hope before he'd locked down with every shielding trick he knew. 

She gave him his privacy as much as she could, but the tumult had frightened her. She rushed through the door as soon as it was open -- and found her mate sitting on the floor, bare forehead dropped into his gloved hands, and... crying? The gleam of a text comm still shone at a crazy angle from his wrist and she ignored it.

The Force took her to his side in a moment, and she plastered herself to his back and side, wrapping her arms around his chest as a toss of her head and flex of her lekku flipped them over his shoulders to hold him that way, too. 

Bly had felt her coming, knew he needed to get it under control, but… his whole world had just opened up and he'd faced, truly faced, what his choice was going to cost him. He'd known he could not just send their boys on without one of them. Neither of his chosen spouses would ever have forgiven him that, not deep down. They had too many young ones, too many that never should have made it to the field in the first year of war.

One of them had to go, and the _vod'e_ in charge, himself included, had believed they could not ask it of their _jetiise_.

Now, though, Wolffe said they could. Wolffe said **General _Buir_** said it was alright to ask the pair he loved beyond life itself to come with them on this attempt at freedom.

" _Riduur_ ," he finally managed to say.

" _Ner'riduur_ ," Aayla answered, her hands holding tight to him, her lips against his cheek, "what is it, what's wrong -- what's happened, love, who did we -- " 

The only thing she could think of was a surprise attack, but she would have gotten an alert on that too, what -- what was wrong with her mate, how did she help? 

"No, no, _cyare_ , no," he said softly. "It's very complicated, but I am… hopeful? There--" He stopped, pushed back into her hold, then brought a hand over to her lek over his shoulder, gently running fingers over the markings. "You know there has been something, a thing we are doing, but you have not pushed, Aayla?"

Aayla made a soft, shaky sound at the so-gentle touch of armorplas along her lekku so gently, pushing tighter against him. "Of course I know," she agreed softly, relaxing a little for that 'no', for that whatever had happened it wasn't them losing more people. "Will you tell me now?" 

What had changed, what could have him this distraught but... hopeful? And what _had_ their boys all been up to? 

"I can tell you. But… oh Aayla, I do not know how. Some may hurt, but know this: I only ever wanted to protect you and Kit from the fallout of the decision. We all did," Bly said softly. "We wanted our _jetiise_ to be able to truly deny knowing, and not get caught by the Senate's mercenary ways when we did this.

"Because, _ner'riddur_ , we have been preparing to leave. To desert, if I am brutally honest, even as I know we never had a choice in serving," he told her, trying to twist enough to see her. "We have to, so our brothers can grow up free."

Aayla had bitten her tongue on the longstanding traditional argument about whose job it was to protect who, sensing it was so far from the right moment as to be in another system, and she was grateful she had as Bly went on. 

Preparing to leave. To desert. Without telling them, without letting them help, without -- 

Bly looked at her, his dark eyes almost black with his concern and pain, and Aayla struggled for composure and serenity in the face of another abandonment by a man she trusted with all she was. 

"All of you deserve freedom," she said softly. "The Senate and the Order have failed you in that, time and again." 

She saw as her realization cut through him, so attuned to her, and he pulled free enough to get his hands back up to his face, digging the heels into his eye sockets in hopes of cutting out the sight of having betrayed her, of having caused her pain.

Would she be able to forgive him? It had seemed the right thing, to not leave his young brothers without veteran leadership. Now, though… how could he use duty as an excuse to flay the woman that had risked so much for him?

He had no words, no concept of how to heal the breach his stupidity was causing.

She could not stand seeing him in pain, worse, risking hurting himself, and she reached up for his wrists, tugging, as she breathed against the hollow pit in her own chest. "When?" she asked, quiet. "Before the coming vote, I assume." 

He nodded to that. "We… did not think… that we could ask you, any of you," he breathed out, almost too quietly to be heard by her. She managed to pull his hands down, showing her the haunted, terrified and guilty look he had now.

There were tears streaking down her cheeks, she knew, but her hands were busy, and those soft words only brought them spilling faster. They hadn't thought -- 

"I am sorry," she whispered, her voice shaking, "that we failed you _that_ mu -- " 

"NO!" He moved then, back into her space, wrapping around her with just enough force to show how desperately he needed and loved her. "Aayla, _riduur!_ , no! It is not you, nor the Jedi, but the Senate! We fear for our young ones. We fear they will make more, that we will always be nothing more than death machines for them!!!" 

He brought his hands so carefully up around the back of her head, under the lekku, and put his forehead to hers. "I thought… I thought you'd never forgive me if I let our young ones go without one of us, and we could not, ever! ask any of you to desert with us. Because all of you took your own vows, _cyare_."

\-- oh. 

**Oh**. 

Aayla collapsed against him, against that hold, as that sharp, desperate bark and the matching hold, the call on their bond -- **he** had been going to break it, but he -- and the torrent of fear and love blended in and around those last words. 

She knew the _vod'e_ were devoted to their honor, to their given oaths... of course they would have thought it was impossible. 

Bly hadn't -- it hadn't been -- he'd thought her caught between two vows, and her husband would not have asked her to break the one she had given first. She took a breath that wheezed with shock and relief and dizziness, and contorted her body until she was wedged into his lap. Her lekku were coiled around themselves against her chest, defensive position she didn't have the brain to force them out of at the moment, but at least she had the wall of his armor all around her. "What changed?" she asked, rather than wallow in her pain. 

"Wolffe." Bly kept her close, kept his head against hers, his voice low and rough. "His general pieced it together. Found out his choice. Refused to allow it to stand, and said you had all been betrayed too, and that we should ask."

Aayla shifted, pressing her forehead to his, her fingers finally sliding to rest on his shoulders. "What... what was Wolffe going to do? And Master Plo pieces _most_ things together." Not like Master Micah had, but so well it was uncanny, sometimes. 

She felt vaguely numb, now, tears drying on her cheeks and her lekku coiled tight, but Bly's love was a comforting flame in the Force. 

"Stay. He had told Sinker and Boost they had to go, though," Bly told her. "He… his mind? It's -- " He really had no words for it, but he'd never doubted that it was, truly, impossible for Wolffe to go with them. That he would be giving himself over to serve under **Fox** of all people had reinforced that, given their history. "General _Buir_ said we should ask," he repeated. "So, Aayla, I am asking. Would you give up your first vow to come and make a life with us on a dangerous world, far from here?"

Wolffe had meant to stay with Master Plo, separated from his brothers? Oh, no wonder Master Plo had interfered! 

As hurt as she was, as much as it was going to take to fix this completely, Aayla had no doubt of her answer. "When my other option is losing you? Bly, my heart, _yes_. I swore to serve peace and justice, not the whim of the Senate. I will resign, and follow you." 

He had tears again, streaming down his cheeks, as he lifted his head enough to kiss between the ridges of where the lekku began, that so sensitive point of her brow. " _Ner'riduur_ ," he whispered, aching that he'd hurt her and hoping they could mend this thing he'd made. "I swear to you, I will never contemplate another idea without your knowledge of all the impacts."

"You had better not," Aayla told him, and she meant every syllable. "I -- I can understand. Given your beliefs, and your code. Even love you for trying to protect me, and Kit, from the Senate." 

But she had never thought he would come so close to acting like her Master, no matter how much better his reasons.

"I'm sorry," he said, holding her, just settling into breathing with her, letting this be the first step toward healing.

"I know," she answered, shifting until she could lay her head on his shoulder, all of the cool armorplas soothing against her. "I know, _cyare_. We'll be all right." 

She had to get Kit to come to them, as immediately as he could. And she would check on Master Tholme, see if he had given way to Master T'ra Saa's wishes on how they should proceed yet. They could use a clean break to be free with one another as well.


	6. The Parents

Shaak Ti pushed away the latest request for her to handle a negotiation, reaching instead for her broth tea, needing something to fight off the headache she currently had. Too long a time spent away from doing this, first because of fighting in the war, and then in taking care of the young soldiers of Kamino were wreaking havoc on her ability to handle the long hours of talking.

Still, she strove to be a woman of peace, and this step was crucial to going forward. The more the Senate hardened itself against the systems seeking reunification, the more it became apparent that the Jedi had to meet the need for negotiation with open minds and hearts.

Yet — and this was part of her inability to focus on the next request — were they doing enough? Providing negotiators to both sides had seemed the best foot forward, espoused by those in the Senate that wanted the war truly ended, without leaving festering wounds. Yet, too many saw profit and exploitation as the way to go, and held no moral high road.

Nor, in fact, did the Jedi have one, she knew bitterly. If they had, as Kit suggested, refused to attend these matters until the Senate acknowledged the men of Kamino as free, sentient citizens, then perhaps Shaak would be hopeful over the future.

Mace Windu had chosen a different path, moderating the tone on how much the Jedi could bring weight to that matter. Before she could fall into recriminating thoughts on that, she felt an inquiry against her mind.

Plo Koon had considered for several hours over this step, but he thought he knew his old friend well enough to know where she would stand. ~Shaak, dear? Oh... you feel miserable.~ 

~It has been a long few days,~ Shaak told him, trying to center once the connection firmed. He did not need her misery adding to the weight on his shoulders. Time and again, he had been the one to speak up, protesting Mace's path. It was not that they did not understand the reluctance. The Jedi were dependent on Republic support, and it had been eroded during their time as military leaders.

Mace had to do what he thought was necessary to protect the future of the Order, so that new Force-sensitive children had a refuge to come to.

Plo, and Shaak, and many others, however, knew that the present was as important as the future, and needed to protect the brave men that had saved the Republic.

~So we do,~ Plo agreed with that last, loudest thought, ~so we must. But they have come to their own decision on that front. You have none that are close to you with you, I don't believe, so I must be the one to inform you, oh co-parent of mine.~ His voice was amused on that, as the youngest had adopted her, and she them, while he had had those in the field.

~No. I did not want to subject any of my young aides to this nonsense,~ she agreed. ~What have the boys gone and done now? I told them it was impossible to truly siege Coruscant after all, and they do not want their freedom on those terms.~

~You must not let on, Shaak,~ Plo answered, though he had hummed a moment's laughter at the comment about sieging Coruscant. ~Not to any you do not trust with our children's lives. They have drawn up a quite sound set of plans, aided by some of the Twi'lek liberation groups, to get the Fleet personnel -- and their Jedi -- off their ships and disappear. 

~Except for those transferring into the Guard for reasons of their health... or an overabundance of loyalty to their _jetii_.~

Shaak paused in taking another sip of her broth tea, and let those words sink in. Once they did, her immediate, wordless plea and worry was for her youngest charges, currently in the keeping of Knight Eerin on Kamino. Her distress over them was more than packed with meaning, though, for Plo Koon who had mentored her and been her friend since her youth.

~Shhh, my dear, peace,~ Plo sent gently, soothing and steadying. ~Do you really think our sons would leave their youngest brothers? The _Negotiator_ and _Resolute_ were meant to go and gather them, but Wolffe agrees a third ship would be helpful. Your company and expertise would be more than welcome, on our long trip, if you wish to join me in resigning from the Order and caring for them.~ 

Could she do that? Could she walk away from the Order that had been her life since infancy? 

Could she refuse? Her lost padawans echoed in her heart with every young man that had looked up to her for guidance, and resonated in those that never came back from the war.

What if this, the crossroads of the men leaving, taking… probably half of the Order with it?... so many Jedi away was actually part of what Mace saw in his shatterpoints, a way of preserving their teachings and the men alike, away from the Republic as it went through one of its uglier moments in growing?

~I will meet you at Kamino,~ she told him. ~My place is with the young ones now.~

~That,~ Plo sent back, entirely satisfied, ~is what I hoped you would say. Eight -- well. Seven and a half -- days from now.~ 

Shaak Ti looked at the datapad from earlier, then smiled, with an edge of sharp canines showing. ~I will be there. Give my regards to your sons on your ship.~

~Of course, Shaak.~

* * *

Well. That had gone well from Plo's perspective.

It was unlike what he had sensed from Aayla down their old connection. He had no doubt he would see her, with Bly -- and hopefully Kit -- soon, but... he worried. Until then, he needed to see about informing the Dorin-based part of the clan they would not need the moon colony after all… and check on the last addition he'd made to that numerous clan.


	7. Unexpected Passenger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember the kid-fic bits I warned of? Here's the first of the kids.

While Sha had procured much of what he needed (which Shaak would gather, as he'd discovered she was going to Coruscant first) Plo did wish to take a few things from his home on Dorin, see all of his children and their children, talk to his teachers so they knew his plans… and actually see the small life he had created with a dear friend when Dooku was finally captured.

She had, he recalled fondly, been more than happy enough to share his boisterous mood for the hope of the war finally being at an end. When the talk turned to the fact he had not given the clan a child in over twelve years, he had been persuaded to go along with her ideas.

He'd had no inkling then that he would not see this one grow up. While he would have all of his sons' little brothers to watch over, he did feel a small pang at not knowing this one, and what xie would grow into. That most of his children had been much like their mothers had given Plo hope this child would be a healer. This all in mind, he finished his errands swiftly, so as to have more time with Lia and her child before he needed to return to the ship above. 

With a mental knock, Plo entered the healer's quarters, puzzled by her exasperation… until he stepped to where he could see her -- their -- offspring in the midst of a pile of clothing that had toppled, burbling happily in verbal and mental noises despite being half buried by the cloth.

"This one, Plo Koon, is very much like you! Always in motion, exploring since xie learned to crawl last month!" Lia said, trying to rescue the laundry. "No, do not put — fine. Chew on the cloth. If it keeps you busy while I clean this up…"

Plo padded over to crouch down next to the little one. "Hello, there," he said, extending his hands to be investigated. "Is xie so much trouble, Lia?" 

The small Kel Dor moved forward, and brushed a tusk nub along one hand, letting the touch guide xir mind. There was a wild curiosity that blossomed in Plo's mind as the connection solidified from infantile babbling to a familial, strong one.

"Not trouble, per se, Plo, but very eager to be moving, to learn new things." Lia paused in her attempt at cleaning up their child's mess, smiling softly as the child explored with touch and mind alike. "Pel, for that is the name I chose, is very much a Koon in the oldest sense of the word."

Plo clicked and brushed brushed affection along that suddenly solid connection, humming deep in his chest. This little child felt much like him indeed, and he lifted Pel gently into his arms, with xir cooperation, to let xir investigate him. ~Yes, hello oh curious one. Aren't you a lively bright child?~

"Pel. I like it, Lia. And that is not such a bad thing. It will serve xie well." 

Hands moved over Plo's face, already careful of the sensitive outer appendages, while the young mind processed the meanings and love behind it. 

~Excitement / curious / warm / safe ~ bubbled up in Plo's mind from his child.

"I know it will, Plo, but xie is a handful, and I've had less time than I need for xir because we had a cave collapse last week." Lia brushed apology over both of their minds. "All children are different… but none of the other five of yours or my other one gave me reason to believe xie would be this adventurous so young."

"I am sorry to hear about the collapse," Plo said, and meant it, as he brushed love and warmth and assurance along xir mind. "There must have been many injuries." 

Hearing that, he felt even worse about the news he brought... but he could not change his mind now. He encouraged Pel's touches, twitching the muscles of his face under those small hands. "I... would not have you angry with me, Lia, but there are new plans, for my human sons, that you must know." 

Lia looked at him, continuing the folding to keep her hands busy. "Yes, Plo?" she asked steadily. They had been friends nearly since they entered adulthood, with mutual comforts something they had shared before this. Because of that, she could read him a little better than others. Whatever this was would affect the future for their child.

Pel, feeling something shift in the air, let xir tusk nubs wriggle frantically, before trying to burrow into Plo's robe where it was dark and quieter.

Plo shifted his weight and robe to let Pel hide against him, his hands settling protectively around their child, along with his Force presence. "The Senate is moving towards permanently legalizing their status as property rather than people, despite all the Order and our allies can do. The _vod'e_ , through the Guard, are aware -- and made plans of their own against it. 

"They mean to flee, to a world found well outside of Republic space. My Wolffe was going to send his brothers away without him, to stay with me, because he believed I was too bound to the Order to consider leaving. I... I cannot lose another clan, Lia. I can't." 

"Of course you can't," Lia said, stopping what she was doing to come and lean into him, one hand going to the Pel-shaped lump now under the robe. She was a healer, and she had been the one that he finally turned to after each death among his Jedi youngling clan. She knew the scars in his mind, especially the ones left by Micah Giiett's loss. "But, now, my dear friend, we have a different issue.

"As Pel has, at least three times now, been caught levitating things," she told him. "Xie is Force-gifted, and with the inclination to explore already so prevalent, Plo, you know xie will not wish to be a Sage in the deep caves."

"No," Plo said, blinking down at his gifted child, "I suspect that xie will not, when I did not as a youth. And the Order we will be leaving behind..." He frowned, even as he moved to lean into Lia's body and arm. "Is not somewhere I would wish him to be, I do not think. Well that _is_ a problem." 

He hummed deep in his throat, tapping his fingers against his thigh, worried. It would be so difficult to keep a youngling safe, especially one like him, one with the Force... but Wolffe would help him -- wait, _what_ was he thinking? 

~You safe warm / explore see do?~ the young mind tumbled out at him, concepts of being kept safe by parent while exploring running strong.

"I felt that too," Lia told him. "Pel would grow well with you, and you would have one more challenge to keep you young."

Plo chuckled softly, not at her, but the child in his arms. "Such a tiny little Koon."

"Pel needs to be where xie can truly grow and learn," Lia said softly, willing to do what was best for their child. Children were clan-raised, even if the parental units were primary bonds, after all.

"Lia, I don't want to take xie away from you," Plo protested, "you made such a point of... but... do you truly think it would be well?" 

She actually flicked him with a talon! 

"Yes, you silly male," Lia said, "I do. I will gather what is needed to keep xie safe out in all that horrid poison you enjoy traveling in, while you get to know Pel. Do you honestly have everything you will need to create a stable biome?" 

"I have requested a few more items, but I'd love to let you look over the list. I need to be certain it will be rich enough in nutrients, after all, for our little explorer," Plo said with a sound, wondrous tone. He could not even imagine what Wolffe's reaction would be.

* * *

Plo carried the small bubble that held Pel, keeping a eye on the air cycler that would remain at the top no matter how Pel contorted or tried to push the thing. There were larger ones disassembled in the crates on the ship behind him, to use as Pel grew more, but for now the small one was easiest, as it let him keep Pel close. The excitement and delight from his tiny child at all the New Things bubbled wildly, but Pel was being good about holding still and only looking around. Plo answered the ~what? what?!~ questions with names for things, silently, as he looked from the bubble to his First Son, now standing at rigid attention a few steps away. 

"Hello, _ad_ ," he said, mild, "meet your _vod_." 

Wolffe stared at the very small version of a Kel Dor. The tusks were only tiny nubs, and the hands splayed on the bubble wall ended in short fingers that did not yet have the impressive talons of an adult. The ridging of the extrasensory organs along the head was less pronounced, and the child's eyes shone with the same silver-in-black galaxies that Plo's eyes were under the adult's goggles.

 _Vod_? In that tone? 

Wolffe had met Plo's adult children on Dorin during a supply run there. He knew, intellectually, that his general contributed to the genetic well-being of his clan by periodically fathering offspring. However, none of that could possibly have prepared him for seeing this tiny being, and knowing that Plo was the biological father.

"Sir?" He looked up at Plo, concerned, and awed. "We don't have much time to take a shuttle down, honored as I am that you brought xie to meet us."

"That won't be necessary," Plo said with a shake of his head. "Come meet your _vod_ , Wolffe. This is Pel Koon. Who is entirely too Force-sensitive for xir poor mother to handle, and I am not going to leave to go to the Order we are leaving behind. I was firmly informed... that xie is coming with us.

"There are a great deal of baby things on the ship that will need to be moved to my quarters somewhat soon, but that can wait." 

"Oh." It was not often that Wolffe had no words, but this was so unexpected. "Yes, sir." He came closer, then stripped off a glove so he could lay a bare hand on the bubble, tentatively, and his face softened when the child inside scrabbled to put both xir hands on the spot inside the bubble where the hand rested. "You have a tiny _ad_ ," he said softly, before he focused on the child. "Koh-to-yah, _vod_ ," he said to the child, remembering that the young ones understood more than a human of the same size. He thought the greeting too, trying to remember all his general's lessons on being open to telepathy.

~Koh-to-yah!~ Pel answered, blinking up at the strange-looking new being that thought strangely, but felt good. Warm and safe, like the one holding him. 

Plo smiled, watching Pel pushing xir hands against the bubble, and feeling Wolffe's shocked awe and fascination. ~Brother,~ he told Pel, giving the images of xir male siblings to help make the connection. 

Pel made a high, delighted chirp, and nodded, happy to know more clan, even though this one looked strange and felt different. 

Plo closed the Force around Wolffe's shoulder for a moment, as his hands and arms were busy with Pel, and said, "I know... I am shocked, too. I did not expect Lia to decide to give up her child, especially when we are going so far away." 

"Your healer friend," Wolffe said, placing the name against the image of the woman who wore blue-trimmed gray tunics to signify her role within the clan. "He's Force-sensitive, and she gave him to you to bring with us… this is so much to understand." Wolffe nodded though. "He will not lack, sir, for support and care from any of us."

Pel made a tiny crooning noise, at both the image of xir mother and Wolffe's potent vow wrapping around xie, promising security and love.

"I know, _ner'ad_ ," Plo answered, "that, I know. I have never been the one raising infant Kel Dor... this is going to be interesting. But I know I have the support of my clan, and we will be fine, because we are together." 

Jag ducked out from between two ships at that moment, turning towards them, and froze. "Sirs?!" 

Plo had to laugh, envisioning how many times that was going to happen, and shook his head with the same amusement. "Come here, Jag. I should get my _ik'aad_ here to my quarters, and out of this small bubble, but you can walk with us and be introduced."


	8. Straight on 'til Morning

Obi-Wan was more than thankful to see Kamino looming ahead. His suggestion of shore leave for Fleet personnel had been met with enthusiasm, and both his ship and Anakin's were fully under the control of loyal _vod'e_ , all of whom were thrumming with joy over their _jetiise_ choosing to come with them.

For his part, Obi-Wan felt freer already than he ever had in his life. He was embarking on a new life, with a man he loved dearly, and all of those that had come to be family.

"Anakin," he said into his comm, after requesting the connection, ship to ship. "I'll be heading down in the first landing ship to make contact with Bant."

"All right," Anakin replied lightly, smiling at how much better his Master looked than even the last time he'd seen him. "We'll be over on the other side of the planet, picking up from the cities there. Nice of Master Plo to take the southern third, wasn't it?" 

On Anakin's end, a voice called out, "Sir, we have the Senator's -- former Senator's -- ship on approach. Topmost bay?" 

"You guessed it," Anakin answered, and couldn't stop himself from grinning. 

"Tell the ladies hello from me," Obi-Wan said, returning that smile as easily as it had been given.

With that taken care of, Obi-Wan went ahead with his part of the plan, humming slightly to himself in pleasure. He would get to Bant, explain to her as the men handled the Kaminoans, and ask her to choose to go or accept a temporary house arrest.

He did not anticipate her fussing over their plans. All blasters were on stun, and the only destruction would be to the genetic data and samples, with a virus to eat through project notes. Whether she would go or not, that was the larger question.

He let his men handle the piloting, considering what to say to his lifelong friend. He wanted her to come, but was uncertain if there would be any other Mon Cal among those who did choose the path of their men. He was certain Kit was coming, even though there had not been much communication among the various Jedi likely to go in the last several days. Even Anakin and he had refrained from more than allowing their dragons to carry notes back and forth.

There had been one from Padmé stressing that he had better be planning on going, or she would, in no uncertain terms, find him and stun him and put him on a ship herself. It had made him smile. 

His bronze and Cody's green were curled up in the middle of their bed, as Obi-Wan did not want any of the fair on Kamino. The place had terrible psychic resonance, and their friends were still maturing into their full shields against such. They often did not understand it, either.

As they landed, none too far from his original landing spot here, his men deployed out ahead of him, and the other ships settled to their own landing pads and bays. They were arrayed as if on parade, to inspire the new recruits… or so the Kaminoans were meant to believe. He went to the door, felt a rush of familiarity in the Force as he stepped inside, only to find not just Bant but Shaak Ti.

This was an unforeseen wrinkle.

"Peace, Kenobi," Shaak said, smiling in a way that reminded him of his grand-padawan. "I am aware, and have already briefed Knight Eerin."

He turned his eyes to his friend, and found all of her body radiated pleasure with satisfaction. "And?"

"I stand with the men," she said, shoulders back and head high. "Someone has to keep records and organize it all."

"Then, by all means," Obi-Wan said, tapping out a prearranged signal on his comm. "Let us begin."

Given the word, men with Plo, Anakin, and himself herded the Kaminoans and assorted staff out of the way, taking rapid control of all comms and temporarily disabling them. Methodically, the younger _vod'e_ were gathered up, crammed into the waiting ships, and evacuated up. It would take a few trips, but within hours, Kamino would have no more Fett clones, and everything related to the Grand Army of the Republic would be destroyed.

Hardcase, having won that privilege, had briefed the units' best demo men, working with Kix and other medics, so that it would be a complete loss for Kamino. Not a single brother wished to leave a chance of more of their own being used like they had been.

Once the last ships lifted, Obi-Wan gave a look down to the planet below, where their lives had changed in bitter tragedy and triumphant joy alike, the day he chased a bounty hunter down.

"Commander," he said to Cody, "give the order to take us to our new home."


End file.
